Fair or not, Canada faces a Trump government willing to economically waterboard us into a recession come January. We need to act accordingly

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If President-elect Donald Trump follows through with his plan to apply a 25 per cent tariff on all Canadian exports to the United States, it’s sure going to hurt.

But it’s not like we’re completely unable to do anything about it.

The news came on Monday evening: writing on social media, Trump announced that “thousands of people are pouring through Mexico and Canada, bringing Crime and Drugs at levels never seen before.”

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“On January 20th, as one of my many first Executive Orders, I will sign all necessary documents to charge Mexico and Canada a 25% Tariff on ALL products coming into the United States, and its ridiculous Open Borders. This Tariff will remain in effect until such time as Drugs, in particular Fentanyl, and all Illegal Aliens stop this Invasion of our Country!”

So, yes, that will be a painful, terrible blow if Trump follows through. The vast majority of our exports — 77 per cent — are U.S.-bound. “All” products would include oil and gas — which means higher costs for American consumers who partially rely on Canadian energy, and Canadians who rely on exporting to the U.S.

But pay attention to the rest of what was said: the tariffs are being contemplated because of “Crime and Drugs.” Canada’s performance on both has been sub-par, and trade with the U.S. is now being........

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